THANK YOU!
Since this is traditionally a season of thanks, I felt it would naturally be appropriate if all of you fellow Cricut users out there received a big THANK YOU from all of us here at the Cricut CHIRP. Thank you to all of you who have contributed and shared so much over the years!
Your emails, suggestions, ideas, spotlight entries, and letters of encouragement have all been tremendously appreciated. We’d like to say “Thank you!” again and again. You are wonderful! It is a pleasure to be associated with such talented and creative Cricut users. We are happy you are a part of our Cricut family. Our newsletters would not be the same without you.
Be sure to check out Crafty Kimber's excellent cartridge exploration of the "Art Nouveau" and "Sophie" Cricut® Cartridges in today’s Chirp. You’ll also read more helpful crafting tips and glean crafting ideas from Cricut message board members in this week’s newsletter.
As always, I wish you success in your crafting adventures!
Lonna Joy Smoot - Editor, Cricut CHIRP!
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TIPS TREASURE CHEST
Today’s great idea comes from message board member sweatpea1030. Thanks for sharing!
Q. I am trying to use the Cricut Expression to cut basic shapes for quilting purposes. Several of the posts regarding fabric cutting calls for a particular bonding agent, is this a must? Are there any other suggestions anyone has, considering I do not want to iron the cut fabric to anything because I have the intentions of sewing them together?
A. The iron-on is used to create a paper like application of the fabric so the blade does not drag your fabric around the mat. Depending on the fabric, a spray adhesive might work. You could adhere your fabric to a thin piece of cardboard, such as the ones that come with a pair of stockings, and place it on the mat to cut. Depending on the fabric, you could also try using painter's tape to help hold it in place.
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CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION
It’s November and with this month comes the time to think about what I am thankful for. I guess you could say that I’m thankful for the use of my left hand. I received some wonderful news this week: soon I get to take the splint off my arm and start slowly using it again. I must say my arm has had its painful moments, but it is easier to type with two hands and crafting is much simpler as well. There are many other things that I’m thankful for. Take a few moments from crafting to think about what you are thankful for. This week I was able to explore the cartridges "Art Nouveau" and "Sophie", that is exclusive to the Cricut Circle™ Club, for more information about this club see here.
“Sophie” was the first cartridge that I played with this week. This cartridge is a fun and exciting cartridge full of paper doilies, cards, bookmarks, and holiday images. Some examples of images in this cartridge are: love birds, birds, birdcage, butterflies, heart, key, lock, flowers, leaves, rectangles & oval labels, flower circle labels, flower accents and a variety of other accents, snowflakes, paisley, flowers, Easter eggs, pumpkins, and Christmas tree. The creative features that come with this cartridge are: Card1, Card 2, Card 3, Card 4, Doily, and Bookmark. Let me try to describe the differences in the 4 different types of cards. On Card 1 you can cut the image big in the center of the card, with Card 2 only a small portion of the artwork is displayed at the bottom of the card, and Card 3 takes the image and cuts it smaller as a border across the bottom of the card. Card 4 cuts the image smaller down in the bottom right corner, so now you have room to add a phrase or saying without covering up the image.
When I first looked at this cartridge, I found tons of different flowers that would be great to decorate mother’s day pictures or even photos of your grandparents. Everywhere I look online it seems banners are so popular and I decided to make a flower banner. I cut out tons of solid flowers from thinner colored paper and even cut out some flowers from newspapers and pages from a book. Then I used a spray bottle with water and sprayed each flower watching the paper as it changes when the water hits it. I also used some liquid glitter to add some color to the back of my flowers. One other tip, when the paper flowers are wet crinkle the flower up in your hand and this gives it a 3-D effect. I used a needle and fishing twine to pull my flowers together (see photo above), I think you could use yarn and maybe even thin ribbon being careful of course so that the ribbon doesn’t rip the paper.
“Art Nouveau” is the second cartridge that I explored this week. This unique full cartridge has beautiful artwork; I love the design of the women (they remind me of water nymphs), corner flower, butterfly, dragonfly, fish, swan, birds, feather, vases, peacock feather and the snail. Each of the designs comes with a layering set up so you can personalize each design the way you want. The creative features that are included with this cartridge are: Layer 1, Layer 2, Font 1, Font 1 shadow, Font 2, and Font 2 layer. I immediately fell in love with both fonts that are included with this cartridge. Monograms are very popular and both of these fonts would make great monograms either on a canvas, on a pillow, or on a glass that’s framed. To the right are some examples of the fonts that come with this cartridge. The top photo is Font 1 and it has a shadow layer as well that’s not pictured. The middle photo is Font 2 and the bottom photo is Font 2 with the layer. You really have 3 fonts because you can choose to use the Font 2 with the shadow or not. This middle font would be great on a poster for a school or church project, I will have to remember this cartridge the next time I need to make a poster. The bugs (see butterfly photo) are great for school projects. For additional project ideas on what you can create with this cartridge, click here to see the Look Book.
One other thing I need to point out, in the handbook you will find some red circles; these are size recommendations on what the smallest size you should cut the image. Provo Craft is trying to help their customers in cutting the die cuts. I hope this tip helps you as much as it has helped me, as I am always exploring new cartridges I have noticed that Provo Craft is constantly giving tips on the sizes if you just look in the handbook. This is something new and I really love it.
I hope you enjoyed this exploration as much as I’ve enjoyed playing with the cartridges, check back next week as I continue diving into new cartridges. Happy Crafting!!
- Crafty Kimber
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Copyright 2011 Provo Craft & Novelty, Inc. All rights reserved. CRICUT®, CRICUT EXPRESSION®, CRICUT DESIGNSTUDIO®, CRICUT IMAGINE®, CRICUT CAKE®, GYPSY®, CRICUT CIRCLETM, CRICUT CRAFT ROOMTM, CUTTLEBUG®, CUTTLEKIDSTM, YUDU®, YUDU CARDSHOPTM, YOURSTORY®, and KNIFTY KNITTER® are registered or applied for trademarks of Provo Craft & Novelty, Inc. South Jordan, UT 84095.
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